The present invention relates to the field of product distribution system, namely distributing hair care and cosmetic products to hair and beauty care professionals.
Typically, hair and beauty care professionals must stock various hair care and cosmetic products to service their customers. The inventory of the various hair care and cosmetic products must be sufficient to last a predetermined period of time, such as a day, week, month, etc. Accordingly, there is a risk that either some of inventory will never get used, become outdated or stale or that a certain product will be out of stock causing a lost sale. Thus, the hair care or cosmetic professional bears all the risk in managing the inventory of hair care and cosmetic products. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a product distribution method, which shifts the burden of managing the inventory of hair and beauty care products to the manufacturer or distributor.
Currently, hair care and cosmetic manufacturers fill finished hair care and cosmetic products into small disposable aluminum tubes and plastic containers at the manufacturing site. The hair care and cosmetic manufacturer then distributes the finished hair care and cosmetic products in disposable containers to individual retail outlets and salons via a direct sales force, wholesale dealer or distributors. Generally, no change in the product can occur after the finished hair care and cosmetic product leaves the hair care and cosmetic manufacturer. For instance, the number of colors/shades offered for a particular hair care or cosmetic product can be significantly large, e.g., Koleston Perfect® permanent hair creme color is available in over 130 shades. Thus, the salon owner or stylist could stock over 130 different shades to carry a complete line of Koleston Perfect® permanent hair creme color. Accordingly, current inventory management is inefficient in terms of space utilization and greatly maximizes the risk that some of inventory will never get used, become outdated or go stale. Therefore, it is highly desirable to provide a vending system and method which enables the professional hair or beauty care stylist to procure customized hair care or cosmetic products as needed on demand at the point-of-use. This enables the salon owner, cosmetic professional or stylist to offer a complete line of hair care and/or cosmetic products without incurring the inventory costs and space issues associated with stocking the entire line of hair care or cosmetic products.
In certain sectors of the hair and beauty care business, a hair care or cosmetic professional rents a booth, chair or space from a salon owner. These hair care professionals are called booth renters. For example, the hairdressers typically procure their hair care products, such as hair dyes, from the direct sales force or beauty supply store. Accordingly, the hairdressers typically must know their customer's hair care requirements on appointment, and must overstock in advance to properly procure the necessary hair care products for walk-in customers and to accommodate last minute changes, such as dying hair blonde instead of red. Additionally, booth renters may work at odd hours where they cannot get deliveries. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a product distribution method, which permits the cosmetic professionals to procure the requisite cosmetic products as needed on demand at the point-of-use, i.e., at the hair salon servicing a customer.